The present invention relates to a taping supporter for holding and supporting a part of a body. When tapes are applied on the taping supporter, it functions as a supporter and a taping to prevent damage of a joint and its surrounding area.
In sport or exercise, when a body is moved, a part of a body which is not used frequently is liable to be damaged or impaired. Especially, if a body has a weak portion, such weak portion is further damaged. The damage generally occurs at joints, tendons and muscles. Examples of such damages or troubles are, so called, tennis elbow, jumping knee, jogging knee and so on.
In order to prevent damages or troubles caused by sport or exercise, it is preferable to support a weak portion of a body. For this purpose, a supporter made of an elastic material is known to elastically support or hold a muscle or tendon around a joint.
Also, taping is known to protect a muscle or tendon. The taping means to put or apply tapes along the muscle or tendon so that excessive load is not applied to the muscle or tendon by the tapes. Damages or troubles by excessive load applied to the muscle or tendon are effectively prevented by the taping.
The supporter and the taping have advantages as stated above. However, they have disadvantages as well.
In particular, the supporter can be easily worn at a required portion, but the supporter elastically tightens or holds the entire area of a joint. Namely, since the supporter has elasticity in all directions, it is impossible to support or strengthen the muscle in a specific direction thereto.
For example, in case the supporter is worn around a joint, the supporter can not support or strengthen a muscle against torsion of the joint. In this case, the disadvantage can be improved slightly by using a supporter with strong tension. However, if the tension of the supporter is increased, blood vessels are compressed to reduce blood flow in the blood vessels. Also, movement of the joint is excessively limited.
On the other hand, the taping is effective for supporting a muscle at a desired portion while allowing the joint to move in a necessary range. However, the taping must be made in specific orders and directions. Otherwise, even if the taping is made, muscle or tendon can not be effectively supported. Therefore, doctors or trainers with sufficient knowledge and experiences can only apply the tapes.
Also, if the taping is applied around a joint to be moved frequently, the taping applied around the joint may loose. Therefore, effective taping is not made at the joint moved frequently. Further, the taping is not useful for a sport made for a long time.
In view of the above disadvantages, a taping device was made so that a taping can be made easily by a user, which was published in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-13464 published on Apr. 30, 1985.
The taping device is formed of a resilient material, on which locations and order for applying tapes are imprinted. When used, the user wears the taping device at a predetermined position, and the tapes are applied at the specific locations and order as printed on the taping device. As a result, basic taping can be easily made by a user.
The taping device as explained above is useful for a user. However, since the taping device helps applying the tapes on a required portion, the taping device has disadvantages as in the taping explained before. Namely, it is not effective to a portion moved frequently.
The present invention has been made with reference to the disadvantages as explained above.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a taping supporter for providing optimum tension and support to a joint and its surrounding area by combining a supporter and a taping.
Another object of the invention is to provide a taping supporter as stated above, wherein a taping can be easily made by a user.
A further object of the invention is to provide a taping supporter as stated above, which is effective for sweat or moisture.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.